Chair, Conference, thank you.
It’s wonderful to be back in Liverpool. A great city with a great
heart and on a clear day, great views of Wales too.
It’s a real honour to address conference, as Labour’s Shadow
Secretary of State for Wales.
Firstly, I want to thank our Welsh Labour staff who always go
above and beyond for our Party.
And our wonderful Shadow Wales team in Parliament - , and, in the House of Lords,
Debbie Wilcox.
But I particularly want to thank all of our Welsh Labour MPs.
There are 22 of us, all working hard every single day for people
in Wales, as part of our strong, united and determined team of
Welsh Labour representatives across our Councils, Senedd and
Parliament.
From in the North to in the Southwest – every
single one of our Welsh Labour MPs makes a difference for the
people we represent.
And talking about making a difference, who better to exemplify
that than our brilliant Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour, .
A campaigning machine.
Through her children’s funeral fund campaign Carolyn achieved
something remarkable for bereaved families in the worst possible
circumstances of their lives.
Not just in Wales, but in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
too. And she didn’t stop there.
Now, both women and men, for the first time in my life, are
talking at home, in workplaces and across the media about the
menopause.
About its impact on women and the need to improve healthcare,
medical training and employment practices.
Carolyn has helped to change women’s lives because of this.
Carolyn – from all of us - thank you. We are very lucky to have
you.
Conference - this year marks 100 years of Labour winning the
majority of seats in Wales in every single general election.
It is a remarkable achievement and reflects Wales’s central role
in the history of our Party and across our Labour and Trade Union
movement.
We also celebrate 23 years of devolution in Wales.
Devolution delivered by a Labour government to the people of
Wales who have put their trust in us at every Senedd election
since and know that we are on their side.
But we never take a single vote for granted. We have to earn
every vote.
None of those election successes could have been achieved without
your help and support.
To everyone across our Labour and Trade Union movement who has
given their time and effort campaigning all year round to help
win elections - and persuaded others to do the same – thank you.
You are brilliant. And I know you will continue being
brilliant.
Whether it’s in a general election, Senedd or our hugely
successful Council elections earlier this year - following which
the Tories don’t run a single Council in Wales - people in Wales
see that Labour is working for them.
We listen, we share values and aspirations, we earn trust, and we
deliver for Wales as a team.
And in the most difficult of times – during the pandemic and now
during the Conservative cost of living crisis – people across the
UK can look to Wales to see the difference that a Labour
government makes.
No reckless Tory borrowing billions instead of taxing the £170bn
excess profits of the oil and gas producers, or scrapping the cap
on investment bankers’ bonuses - our Labour government in Wales
is using every lever it has, to put money back in the pockets of
people who need it most.
· Extending free school meals
and providing free breakfasts
· A real living wage for
social care workers
· Help with council tax
bills
· Giving students the best
deal anywhere in the UK
· Extending our childcare
offer to parents in training and education
Labour is building our stronger, fairer, greener Wales.
And there’ll be no Tory fracking in Wales, Conference.
Wales will play its part in powering the UK economy with
renewable energy creating the stronger, fairer, greener Britain
that spoke so brilliantly about
this morning.
But our job, Conference, our job, is to make sure that we get
Keir into 10 Downing Street leading a UK Labour government
working hand in hand with our Welsh Labour government.
So Conference, it gives me such pleasure to welcome my friend and
Cardiff neighbour – our brilliant Welsh Labour leader and First
Minister of Wales, .
